


News doesn't sleep and neither do its writers

by Pogniscrow



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Daehwi is an overworked editor, Guanlin will be important later, Jihoon is the Prez, Jinyoung is a shameless photographer, M/M, School paper, Woojin is the ace reporter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 09:07:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13004463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pogniscrow/pseuds/Pogniscrow
Summary: The writers of one of the most prestigious school papers in all of Seoul are gearing up for the biggest coverage this year, and nothing is going according to plan, but they'll figure it out eventually. Hopefully. Maybe.





	News doesn't sleep and neither do its writers

Park Jihoon sits in the student council room with his phone stuck to his ear as he hums affirmatives and negatives to the receiver. His curly auburn hair looks just a tad bit more distressed than it normally does and his eyes more glassy and tired as he listens intently to the sound of his colleague from the other line.

Woojin’s used to this view. He’s been interviewing Jihoon ever since he was merely a student representative until now that he’s assumed the highest seat in the council. They’ve walked on parallel lines, the two of them. However, unlike Jihoon who has fulfilled the prophecies of him freshmen year, Woojin remains a humble news writer.

He had the chance to take the editorial position last year, but Woojin knew that his acclaim as the best news writer in the publication could only get him so far. Lee Daehwi was more seasoned, and infinitely more intimidating than Woojin could ever be.

He’s not complaining though, he’s seen Daehwi go through weeks with just 5 hours of sleep and a liter of coffee coursing through his veins, while closing ten articles and submitting them on time. It was both awe inspiring and haunting seeing the manicured machine Lee Daehwi in action.

And as he sees Jihoon put down the phone and send him a cursory glance then a sublte roll of the eyes, Woojin doesn’t regret losing the position to his friend. Dealing with problems like stubborn interviewees was second nature him, and Park Jihoon was his favorite puzzle.

“Heyo, Prez. Long time no see,” he smiles from the door. Jihoon invites him in with wave of his hand.

“Where’s your photographer?” Jihoon says not looking at Woojin, but at his phone once again. He types up some messages before he makes eye contact with him again.

“Jinyoung likes to run late, you know that.”

“So, shall we get this over with?”

Woojin sees the exhaustion in Jihoon’s large eyebags. The student council was dealing with its first scandal of the year, an accusation from a political party regarding the misuse of funds against the Treasurer. Woojin doesn’t like to be a pest, but his job calls for it, and getting the statement of the president was the most pressing issue right now.

Woojin’s about to start the interview when a lanky mess of limbs comes bursting into the room.

“Sorry I’m late!” he screams sliding into the seat next to Woojin. His hair is disheveled and there’re beads of sweat falling down his nape.

“Afternoon, Jinyoung,” the president says with a small wave.

“Hey, prezzy.” Jinyoung smiles, “I’ll take a breather while you guys start the interview,” he says with a grin. Woojin actually snickers at the boy. If it were any other scenario, in any time, with any photographer, Woojin would have scolded them for being unbelievably unprofessional, but Bae Jinyoung was a different case. The boy was too genuine for his own sake, and he did his job as well, if not better than Woojin, so really he had no right to complain.

Woojin looks at Jihoon and takes out his phone, “You know the drill. I’ll be recording this interview for review later, everything on this will be considered on the record, unless you say so. Are we at an understanding?”

Jihoon nods, “Just start it Woojin, I don’t have all day.”

Woojin smirks, “So, can you tell me what you know about the case?”

 

* * *

 

 

The Daedalus Tribune, the official school paper of Daehag University, one of the most prestigious papers in all of Seoul and oddly named after a Greek man who got stuck in his own labyrinth. However, name aside, the paper is where Park Woojin grew into his own. Two years writing hard hitting school news with sleepless nights and countless odd interviews has made up for a very memorable college life and Woojin wouldn’t trade it any of it for the world.

Now he was the ace of his team and now following the biggest story this year, a full-blown impeachment case filed by a member of an opposing political party against the currently elected treasurer.

“You know you guys have real tension,” Jinyoung says interrupting Woojin’s running monologue.  

Woojin shakes his head at Jinyoung, “We don’t.”

Jinyoung is checking the pictures of Jihoon, the photographer deleting the bad shots and mentally choosing the shots he wants to use for the article.  

“Denial,” Jinyoung says shaking his head, head still stuck on his camera. Woojin rolls his eyes as he navigates Jinyoung away from another pillar he would have walked into.

 “You’re a walking disaster waiting to happen, you know that, right?”

Jinyoung just flashes him a smile before walking into the newsroom, “I swear you and Jihoon have so much repressed emotion for each other, I felt like you two were going to make out in the middle of the interview,” Jinyoung says as he sets himself by the communal computer, “I have photo evidence.”

Woojin sits himself by the meeting table and whips out his laptop and connects his phone, transferring the recording and opening a blank document to begin transcription.

The newsroom was empty at this hour, it was nearing four in the afternoon and classes were just about to finish. Woojin’s voice comes and his fingers start to type as he listens to his and Jihoon’s voices do a back and forth between his eardrums, his fingers dancing on his keyboard in effortless grace. This amicable silence goes on for a while before Woojin’s phone vibrates aggressively on the long table. He stops his typing spree and pauses the recording to glance at his mobile.

_Message from: **HARBRINGER OF DEATH**_

_One of the fucking dorms outside campus caught fire. Who’s available to cover? Reply ASAP!_

Right as Woojin looks up from his phone he hears the distinct sound of Jinyoung’s ringtone echoing from the other table. Woojin looks at him and they share knowing glances.

“When’s Daehwi out?”

Jinyoung gulps, “Right now.”

Their eyes bulge and like a fire alarm was set off in their heads, the two boys start packing their belongings in a desolate rush. Daehwi only spends idle hours in the newsroom, it’s a place for schoolwork and paperwork, and the two of them knew that once Daehwi gets a whiff of them, they’d be whisking off to cover the fire without a moment’s hesitation. And as much as Woojin loves his job, he’s also pretty god damn tired.

HE tries to clean up, quickly stuffing his laptop into his bag as Jinyoung starts begging the computer to ‘hurry the fuck up.’ But their efforts of escape were all for naught as the newsroom’s door slides open with a very stoic Lee Daehwi standing by the doorway.

“Oh, look who it is. My best writer and the best photographer of the paper,” Daehwi too sweetly says as he walks into the room, “Oh, and Jinyoung just finished transferring the photos for approval, which means that Woojin has the interview on his laptop ready for transcription. Perfect.”

Woojin gulps. Daehwi’s been working with him for three years now, so he knew Woojin’s habits, one of which is immediately transcribing an interview while it’s still fresh in his mind.

“But Daehwi, I’m already doing a breaking piece, so really, I can’t do this.”

Daehwi doesn’t budge, just reaches an open palm.

“If you and Jinyoung went out now, I’d have the article out by the time you two finish, so you’d better just give me the fucking laptop and scadoodle out of here before I go ballistic.”

Woojin and Jinyoung let out collective sigh of distress as they drop their bags. Woojin hands Daehwi his laptop and Jinyoung clears his camera of data.

“The Green Meadows Dorm, you know where that is, right?”

Woojin nods as he and Jinyoung walk out of the newsroom glumly. He makes it a point to maturely slam the door as they exit, hoping his subtle hints at frustration would miraculously convince Daehwi to not send him out. 

Jinyoung just nudges him along as Woojin starts yelping out curses in dismay. 

 

* * *

 

Woojin and Jinyoung get back to a packed newsroom. There’s Hwang Minhyun, the Associate Editor, staring intently in to Woojin’s laptop and Yoon Jisung, the Editor-in-Chief, talking casually to Daehwi at the side. On the communal computer sat Ong Seongwoo, the Photos Editor, who looked to be in the final stages of closing the photos for the article Daehwi must have already finished.

Daehwi in the most casual tone says, “How was the fire?”

Woojin doesn’t flinch, only flicking his wrist in the air and plopping himself onto the table in exhaustion, “faulty wiring.”

Daehwi nods, “Who did you interview?”

Woojin rests his head on the table, “Fire marshal, building manager, and some students who live there.”

“Breaking and a regular, can you do it?” Daehwi follows, unbothered by how seemingly wiped out Woojin is, “We’ll take out that boring human fossils talk for this month.”

Woojin raises a thumb in response as Jinyoung takes a seat beside Daehwi.

“Are you working at mine tonight?” Jinyoung asks as he leans his head on Daehwi’s shoulder.

“I’ll drop by after dinner,” he responds before going back to talking to Jisung. There’s a pinch of silence before, almost at the same time, Minhyun and Seongwoo both go, “Ready to publish, Hwi.”

 Minhyun slides the laptop to Daehwi and gives him a thumbs up, “Clean as a whistle.”

Daehwi offers his thanks before he publishes the article online. Woojin gets a notification on his phone the title read:

‘ **Council taking all measure to assure justice,’ Park Jihoon**

Woojin reads through the article and is once again in awe at the clinical machine that is Lee Daehwi. All the things Woojin would have done, Daehwi did with exacting clarity and in marvelous timing. Woojin still wonders how much energy he kept in his little body. How such a frail looking boy could command a team and write articles from time to time, while retaining a decent GPA. Woojin knows that Daehwi has let go of some of his upkeep for the sake of work, but how he still manages to be sane is still a wonder.

However, he knows that where Daehwi seemed to lack in self-care, Jinyoung made up for.

The two were friends from high school. They chose the same college by coincidence, then kind of sorted themselves into each other lives. Daehwi knew what he wanted and Jinyoung was ambivalent. They shouldn’t have worked, but somehow, they did.

The photographer flounced through life. He was well-off and had a business waiting for him to manage after graduation. He found playing around more intriguing than taking his majors seriously. It was only upon Daehwi’s insistence that he joined the paper and found himself with something that he genuinely cared about.  Woojin realized after a year or so working with Jinyoung, that he prioritized things that meant something to him. It’s a wonder he was even in a management course, if Woojin was totally honest. Management kids seemed just a tad bit more neurotic and competitive when it came to grades, but there always lingered an anomaly like Bae Jinyoung who just floated along, not bad but not glaringly good. Jinyoung would expend just enough effort to get through a class, which made him more laidback compared to students. The most blatant was his best friend and something else, Lee Daehwi.

They had an odd relationship. He doesn’t know how many times he’s been asked if Lee Daehwi and Bae Jinyoung were in fact dating, mostly from girls who admired the wispy photographer.

Woojin would shake his head, but offer them a requirement if they had any plans of pursuing him: “Your name has to be Lee Daehwi.”

Woojin knows for a fact that Jinyoung has asked Daehwi on numerous occasions to make it official, with Daehwi time and time again answering with a resolute no. Jinyoung seems to be under the impression that he might wear Daehwi down one of these days. Woojin can only wait for the day.

Minhyun rises from his seat and looks around the room, “I’m going back home, anyone need a ride?”

Woojin could easily just walk back to his dorm, but a leather seat with air conditioning sounded very lovely.

“Me.”

Minhyun smiles and gestures for him to get up, they both ready to depart. They walk down the student activities building and into waning afternoon.

Minhyun majored in Developmental Studies and was the features editor before he became the Associate Editor. He and Jisung, like Daehwi and Woojin, grew together in the paper. They were part of the editorial board last year, with Jisung being his and Daehwi’s former editor.  They knew how to work with each other, so communication between the two highest positions was never really a problem. It made for a formidable duo. While Jisung had an amicable personality and steadfast resolve, Minhyun had a somber approach and commanding tone. They worked in complements and covered where the other lacked.

By the time the two reached the car park, the sun had already set and darkness had started creeping into the sky. Woojin looks around casually spotting a mop of curly auburn hair walking out from the student activities building. Jihoon looks awfully tired and seemed to be stalking rather than walking.

“Minhyun, would you mind if Jihoon rode with us?” Woojin says looking at Minhyun, “He lives near my dorm. He also looks half-dead.”

He shakes his head, his eyes finding the sad creature hanging on for dear life “He looks awfully tired. Call him over then.”

Woojin nods before jogging up to the student council president, “Jihoon!”

The boy in question jerks his head, his eyes crinkling in confusion at the boy barreling towards him.

“Come here,” he shouts.

Jihoon looks around in confusion until he points at himself in bewilderment. Minhyun is behind Woojin just watching the two interact, snickering quietly to himself. Woojin continues gesturing for Jihoon to come over, while Jihoon stands unmoving attempting to comprehend Woojin’s odd behavior.

Finally having enough of Woojin’s odd gestures, Jihoon stomps up to him, “What?”

Woojin smiles, “Ride with me and Minhyun, you look like you’re about to pass out.”

Jihoon sees Minhyun and bows in greeting, “It’s okay, really.”

Woojin scoffs, “We might be at odds when it comes to work, but you look so tired, come on.”

“No, really, it’s okay.” Jihoon says trying to not raise his voice, because he really was exhausted, “I can—”

Woojin grabs Jihoon mid-sentence and starts forcefully dragging him to the carpark. He ignores Jihoon cursing his and his mother’s existence in the world as Minhyun follows quietly behind. They ride the car in relative silence, with Woojin occupying the front and Jihoon sitting at the back of Minhyun’s old Honda City.

Jihoon reluctantly settles himself into the back seat and savors the momentary respite from his building number of problems. He closes his eyes ready to take a short nap when Minhyun suddenly starts laughing then Woojin starts snickering as well, he then hears Woojin say something about rejection and dating, and he can’t stop himself from poking his head into the center console, “Not to be invasive, but who are you talking about? Is it from the Daedalus, cause if it is, I’m practically on a first name basis with everyone, so like yeah.”

Woojin and Minhyun smile at Jihoon, “It’s not really anything secret. Anyone who frequents the student activities hall would know who we’re talking about.”

 “So it’s someone from the Daedalus?”

“Yup,” Woojin says, “A couple that isn’t actually a couple.”

Jihoon pauses for a few moments before saying, “Daehwi and Jinyoung?”

“See, easy,” Woojin snickers.

“But aren’t they already dating?”

Woojin shakes his head, “My, my, the prez doesn’t even know about the hottest drama this side of the campus, I’m disappointed.”

“I just assumed, cause they just look like a couple.”

“Well, to keep you up to speed. Jinyoung is together with you in the idea that he and Daehwi should be dating, but Mr. Editor of the world doesn’t want to. Good thing the Bae doesn’t understand the concept of rejection, especially when it comes from Daehwi.”

“But isn’t he pushing it though?” Jihoon says, “If Daehwi doesn’t want to be in a relationship, shouldn’t he just lay off?”

“That would be true in any normal circumstance, but Bae Jinyoung knows Lee Daehwi better than he knows himself,” Woojin says, “There are more things unspoken than they let on.”

Jihoon nods as he rests back on his seat.

“But Minhyun, any updates?”

“Well, Jinyoung asked Daehwi again like two days ago. Same old, same old.”

Woojin nods and looks at Jihoon, “Jinyoung doesn’t even do anything, he just asks Daehwi. It’s like he’s asking for updates.”

 “I don’t know if I find that sweet or concerning.”

“Both in equal measure.”

Jihoon leans back into his seat as they pass an intersection, “Daehwi does seem to really like working.”

Woojin snorts, “Addicted more like it. He’s also deathly allergic to rest and relaxation, but you didn’t heart that from me.”

Jihoon smiles as he rests into the plush leather seat covers, “At least Daehwi has someone looking out for him.”

Minhyun picks up on the disappointment catching the edge of Jihoon’s words, a lingering aftertaste in a seemingly wholesome bite. However, all that was lost in Woojin, who had elected to take a short nap instead of continuing the conversation.

 

* * *

 

The next day Woojin wakes up to his blank document and 20 missed calls and 35 messages from Daehwi. There’s a little ding that goes off in his head as suddenly the motors of his still addled brain go to work, composing whatever piece he had to write eight hours ago.

He remembers getting dropped off, transcribing the interviews, then grabbing dinner. He doesn’t remember falling asleep on his laptop, neither does he have the time to try to remember.

His phone vibrates violently against his desk as HARBRINGER OF DEATH blares scathingly on the LCD screen. He thanks his experience with deadlines and demanding bosses for his capability to work under such duress. Jisung for all his kindness, employed drastic measures to assure the fulfillment of assignments. He not only demanded them to hand over their phone numbers but also their home numbers and addresses. He still remembers poor Hyeri getting a surprise visit from a smiley Jisung at 2 in the morning. She never submitted late ever again.

However, Daehwi seemed to forego the entire after hours visit for fear. He didn’t need to do lowkey threaten, he just threatened on the spot. Woojin knew that he had to face Lee Daehwi sometime, but he chooses to do it after he submits this piece.

Woojin soon finishes with a final period and quickly sends it to his editor, before waiting silently for a call to come, and like clockwork, his phone vibrates once.

However, it’s not a call but a text. A sentence.

 _You are dead to me._  

One would probably think that Woojin got off easy, but this was not getting off the hook. Woojin knew that Lee Daehwi wanted to lambast him, shame him, and deteriorate his very being personally. This was just an appetizer of what Daehwi wanted to dish out.

So with a meeting with satan set sometime in the afternoon, Woojin gets ready for his next class. He bathes, clothes, and walks. He lingers in his desk after the bell signaling the end of his first class rings, as he clamps his fingers tightly into fists hating the fact that he hated the end of class, because has a free period, but so does Daehwi.

Woojin knew it’s time to rip that band-aid off and face death in the face, so he reluctantly gets up and dawdles his way to the newsroom.

He arrives to Daehwi and Jinyoung sitting in a far corner of the room, Jinyoung leaning his head on Daehwi’s shoulder as the other boy types on his laptop. His editor’s eyes are bloodshot and rimmed with dark circles, but there was a bounty of life brimming in them, a force that kept him oh so scarily awake.

Woojin thinks it’s the manifestation of hell’s anger.

Daehwi doesn’t even bat an eye when Woojin steps in,  just goes, “Oh, look it’s the incompetent boob.”

Woojin doesn’t grovel, he usually had too much ego to do something like that, but Daehwi looked like he was ready to commit third degree murder—Woojin does not have the time to be dead.

“I’m really sorry, Daehwi. I swear I was going to write it.”

Daehwi just raises his hand, “Trump also swears he wants a better America, but we all know that’s a pile of bullshit bigger than the entirety of Asia.” 

“Okay fine, I don’t have an excuse that will satisfy you, but I swear it won’t happen again.”

Daehwi snorts.  

“You should swear off writing altogether, maybe I can get a breaking faster.”

Woojin sighs. An angry Daehwi with no sleep means a consistently prissy Daehwi with more passive aggression than a pregnant woman on her third trimester. And though the wise decision would be to let go and move on, it was nine in the morning—wise decision came around noon.

“Daehwi, how long do you think it will take for you to let this go?”

Daehwi stops typing, eyes moving slowly off the screen and straight at Woojin.

“Right now, there’s giant marquee rolling inside my head. It only has one statement on it,” he says pointing to his temple, “from left to right it goes: Park Woojin fails to submit breaking on fire. Is an incompetent boob,” Daehwi says slowly and purposefully, “That’s what’s on it whenever I look at your sad, pathetic excuse of a face. A fucking boob.” Daehwi then looks back at his laptop and starts typing frantically once more.

Woojin closes his eyes and tries not to bang his face on the table. He whips out his laptop, finishing a report he his history class that’s due tomorrow. There is relative silence before Daehwi’s phone vibrates violently on the table, catching Woojin’s attention. There’s a beat of silence before Daehwi speaks.

“Boob.”

Woojin immediately takes this as his new nickname and accepts it with all the dignity he can muster, “Yes?”

“Treasurer is giving a privileged speech during the next student representative meeting, you and Kuanlin are covering.”

Woojin smiles despite himself. Even if Daehwi hates his very existence right now, he still trusts his best writer with the important assignments, it’s telling of how much Lee Daehwi was dedicated to the paper, and how he could easily separate personal issues and work-related issues in a pinch.

He’s worked with Kuanlin before, on some administrative news on upcoming infrastructure projects. The greenhorn of the team, Kuanlin still had that unblemished enthusiasm to cover the news and the strict adherence to any and all deadlines. He was a trooper and had potential brimming from every single piece he submitted, but he was still new and he didn’t know why he would be working on such an important piece.

“Why Kuanlin?”

Daehwi’s eyes are on his laptop once more, his fingers smashing mercilessly on the keyboard, “Two things. First, to give Kuanlin an opportunity to cover something big while still giving him margin for error. Second, so that I get my fucking article on time.”

Woojin should have seen it coming the moment he asked. Right now, Daehwi wasn’t even trying, Woojin just set the hook, the bait and bit into it without even asking twice.

“Anyway, get what you need from…” Daehwi looks up from his laptop with the face of a man lost within his mind. He stays like that for a few moments, quiet and contemplative, until finally, “What’s his name again?”

Woojin looks at Daehwi and Daehwi looks at Woojin, both staring blankly at each other as if thinking the answer would come out from the other’s nostril.

“Didn’t you cover him last year?” Woojin asks suddenly, “for the elections?”

Daehwi takes a pause before he speaks, “Yes?” he says unsurely, “I covered the candidates, but I only remember that rich Chinese dude.  The Justin guy.”

“What about the other one?” Woojin remarks flatly, “you know, the one who won.”

Daehwi closes his eyes in frustration as he starts murmuring random names into the air. Jinyoung remains unbothered as he snoozes quietly still leaning on Daehwi’s shoulder. As Daehwi continues mumbling words into his closed fist, the door opens and Jisung and Minhyun walk in, sitting down and regarding the two boys at the end of the table.

“All-nighter?” Minhyun asks looking from Jinyoung to Daehwi.

Daehwi suddenly snaps out of his haze and looks pointedly at the Associate Editor, “Minhyun! Do you remember closing my profile about the current treasurer?”

He pauses, slightly shocked at the sudden outburst, but remains calm as he contemplates.

“Um, Daehwi, it’s been so long.”

“I know, but I need his name, this will bother me the entire day.”

“But Daehwi, you were the one who wrote it, shouldn’t you remember his name.”

“I think I mentally blocked every memory of that interview from my mind because it was just that dull.”

Minhyun tries to wrack his mind around it but even he ends up in a defeated sigh, “Sorry, Hwi. I remember your colorful commentary though.”

Daehwi pauses as he slowly tilts his head back at Minhyun, “Colorful commentary?” he says almost threateningly.

Minhyun remains unfazed, “You forgot to take out some of your personal comments.”

“Jesus Christ,” he says sinking into his arms, “I’m sorry.”

Minhyun laughs lightheartedly as he looks at Daehwi, “No. No! It’s okay, it made closing the article more entertaining.”

 “I never knew he ‘escaped from the set of iRobot and carved out the flesh of 5 healthy virgins,’” Jisung snickers from beside Minhyun, “If I knew you had such a colorful vocabulary, I would have suggested you to features.”

“He’s not human,” Daehwi retorts, “I swear, I felt like he was going to run into a system error while I was interviewing him.”

The room erupts in soft laughter, save for Jinyoung who was still snoozing peacefully on Daehwi’s shoulder.

“In any case, you should try Facebook,” Jisung says, “You two should have already mastered the art of SNS stalking. I two should know better.”  

Daehwi’s eyes brighten at the idea, “Of fucking course, why didn’t I think about it first,” he starts typing, but stops halfway, “I don’t think typing boring treasurer will be of any help,” Daehwi grumbles as he sinks his head into the table.

Woojin, upon instinct opens Facebook, and just so happened to stumble upon Park Jihoon’s profile.

“I can search Jihoon’s profile, he’ll probably be tagged here somewhere.”

Daehwi nods as he directs his attention to Minhyun again, “I really can’t remember him, like his very existence was wiped out of my memory. I don’t even know if he was cute or not.”

“He’s not.”

Daehwi looks the man beside whose eyes were still closed, but whose voice sounded very much awake.

“What great timing you have.”

“He’s not cute Daehwi. I would know,” Jinyoung says, snuggling deeper into Daehwi’s shoulder.  

“And why would you know?”

“Because I know your type,” he says confidently, “Your type is Bae Jinyoung. He is not a Bae Jinyoung, therefore he is not your type.”

“Ah, young love,” Jisung hums as he starts looking through the final articles for the month.

“Anyway, he has the personality of a potted plant, you want them feisty and slightly weird like a Venus Flytrap or a cactus” Jinyoung says, head still fit snugly into the rather sharp edge of Daehwi’s shoulder, “Do you know who’s feisty and slightly weird?”

“A dog with rabies?” Jisung interjects.

“No. Fuck you,” Jinyoung says only slightly offended as he raises a middle finger that he mistakenly directs towards Woojin, “Me. I’m the man of your dreams, Daehwi.”

“You should just go back to sleep,” Daehwi says tapping Jinyoung’s head with more force than necessary. Jinyoung remains unfazed, looking like he wanted to spend the rest of his youth creating a permanent neck sore.  

“No. You should be my boyfriend.”

“No.”

“Come on my babes, do it for the sake of the paper.”

“No.”

“I asked your mother and father for approval you know.”

“You bribed them with a nice dinner.”

“Same thing.”

Daehwi pauses his conversation with Jinyoung to look at Woojin.

“WOOJIN! Did you find him?”

Woojin almost hurls his phone at Minhyun as he flushes red, his fingers furiously scrolling through the photos, eyes never reaching Daehwi’s.

“Did this fucker get distracted by looking at Park Jihoon’s face?”

“He has a lot of pictures, okay. People really like him,” Woojin tries to reason, blush getting more intense.

“Tension” Jinyoung singsongs.

“Don’t get mad Daehwi,” Minhyun says offhandedly, “I’m sure Woojin was doing his best to look for the treasurer and not gawk lovingly at Jihoon’s sparkly eyes.”  

“You know who doesn’t like Park Jihoon?” Jinyoung interrupts, “Lee Daehwi doesn’t like Park Jihoon, because Park Jihoon is not his type.”

“Jihoon has really nice eyes,” Daehwi says in return.  

“No, he doesn’t. His eyes are dull, like coal,” Jinyoung rebuts, his head now sort of leaning into Daehwi’s chest, “Bae Jinyoung has sparkling eyes, like diamonds or a star.”

“Your eyes glow because you’re an idiot.”

“I’m your idiot.”

Woojin, finally, rises from the depths of the Park Jihoon buffet to triumphantly display the mystery of the current treasurer.

“Joong Joongji,” he says flashing his phone at Daehwi and Jinyoung.

Daehwi takes a good look at him and squints his eyes, “He looks like a dick.”

Jinyoung finally opens his eyes and looks at the picture together with Daehwi, “Yeah, total tool. Dick supreme. Douche machine.”

Woojin looks at the lanky figure standing next to Jihoon, and can’t really see anything that would indicate his “douchery,” he has jet black hair that coiffed to one side and a set of dark eyes and a boyish face on the verge of maturity. There was nothing outstanding about him. He seemed spectacularly normal.

“He looks okay,” Woojin says to his editor, “He seems nice.”

Daehwi doesn’t look convinced as he pushes Jinyoung off him and packs his belongings, “Wait till he bores you with his voice, it sounds like it was pre-recorded by an android from a sci-fi movie from the 90’s,” he says getting up and heading to the door, “Anyway, this Thursday at five, live coverage. Don’t be late. Good day.”

Woojin watches as Daehwi flits out of the room with a flourish, Jinyoung following closely behind. Minhyun too leaves after a few minutes to attend to a meeting with his thesis group, leaving Woojin and Jisung alone.

“Joongji is one big bastard, don’t let his face fool you. He’ll try to rip you apart,” Jisung says quietly, eyes trained intently at his laptop. He catches Woojin off-guard, but he composes himself to listen, “Joongji is guilty of everything he’s accused of, this is fact. However, Joongji is smart and he’ll do anything to get away with this, so consider this a warning to not let him off the hook.”

Woojin doesn’t question. Jisung has a flair for dramatics and had the right to do so. He knew many things, but as Editor-in-chief had less capacity to pursue them, so he usually spilled them to the writers he trusted.

Part of being a news writer is building your contacts. Woojin had a veritable number, Daehwi just a bit more, but Yoon Jisung was on another level. The gossip mongers of school had nothing on what he knew. He’d mastered the art of sweet and small talk, to create a web of intel so far-reaching that he sometimes knew more than the people involved in the situation. And though he may have had access to more intel than the paper required, there lied a more cherished principle in the world of news—protect your sources. You are nothing without your sources, and Jisung kept his under lock and key.

Woojin knows that whatever Jisung says is unimpeachable—the unblemished truth. His job now was to expose it with interviewees that would agree to go public with the information they knew.

 “Don’t tell Daehwi. There is much more than what it seems, whatever you think is going on, is only the tip of the iceberg, so don’t fuck it up,” Jisung says.

Upon any other circumstance, Woojin would have asked, but Yoon Jisung knew when to talk and when to not. If he didn’t want tell Daehwi, there was a reason, one he’ll find out eventually.

“I hate you.”

“All in a day’s work.”

“I haven’t even eaten food today and you’re making my life into a crime drama already.”

“News don’t do lunch breaks,” Jisung replies with a smile.

“Fuck, now I have to take this seriously,” Woojin groans.

“Good luck, Woojin.”

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know why I started this. i have so many things I'm supposed to write, but well fuck this is here. Anyway, it's like 12 in the morning and I don't know what I'm supposed to say. The events for like the next 3 chapters are already fitted into my head, so hopefully the next update won't take a century. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd. I'll fix it after I finish my other projects. 
> 
> As per usual, leave kudos and comments to motivate this lazy writer. 
> 
> If you want to complain to me about never finishing my other fics or how weird and stupid this one is, please direct yourself to my twitter and cc: 
> 
> Twitter: @jinhwisupreme  
> Curious Cat: https://curiouscat.me/jinhwisupreme


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